Sheila Nowinski, PhD

Assistant Professor of History

Degrees Earned

PhD: University of Notre Dame

MA: University of Notre Dame

BA: Boston College

Teaching philosophy

"As a teacher, my task is to share the tools and methods of the historian. I want my students to master analysis, argumentation, and writing. In doing so, students can come to understand complex historical change and uncover the roots of institutions, social structures, and cultural practices that might otherwise appear to be predetermined inevitabilities. History education can offer students practice in critical thinking and effective communication. I want my students to gain these skills, but also to leave my classroom with a greater appreciation of the past - of the durability of old institutions and ways of thinking, of the possibilities for dramatic change, and of slow, piecemeal, and sometimes contradictory processes of transformation."